The United States’ national debt has surpassed $40 trillion for the first time, according to the US Treasury Department, highlighting the growing financial pressures facing Washington as government spending continues to outpace revenues.
The Treasury’s latest daily cash and debt statement showed total public debt outstanding at $40.047 trillion on Tuesday. Of that amount, about $32.266 trillion consisted of Treasury securities held by the public, while another $7.782 trillion represented intragovernmental debt holdings.
The latest milestone has prompted renewed warnings from budget analysts that the US could face increasingly difficult choices over taxation, government spending and debt servicing.
US debt has more than doubled in less than a decade
The scale of the increase is particularly striking when compared with the situation in 2017, when Donald Trump began his first presidential term.
US government debt stood at approximately $19.95 trillion when Trump was sworn in for the first time in January 2017. It has therefore more than doubled in less than 10 years.
A significant portion of the increase came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when both the Trump and Biden administrations approved massive emergency spending packages to support households, businesses and the wider economy.
However, analysts say the debt increase cannot be attributed to the pandemic alone. Long-running differences between government revenues and spending, along with policy decisions made by successive administrations, have also contributed to the accumulation.
Debt rises under both Trump and Biden
According to the figures cited by Reuters, US public debt increased by approximately $7.8 trillion during Trump’s first term, with more than half of that increase occurring during the pandemic response.
Since Trump returned to the White House in January 2025, the debt has risen by another $3.8 trillion, bringing the increase across his two terms so far to about $11.6 trillion.
During Joe Biden’s four-year presidency, public debt increased by approximately $8.4 trillion. That period included continued pandemic-related spending as well as major investments and subsidies linked to infrastructure, clean energy and other government priorities.
The bipartisan nature of the increase has intensified debate over whether Washington can put the country’s finances on a sustainable path.
Interest payments add to the pressure
One of the biggest concerns surrounding the growing debt burden is the cost of servicing it.
The US government is now spending roughly $1.1 trillion a year on interest payments, according to the report. Rising debt and higher interest rates can increase the amount Washington must spend simply to service existing borrowing.
During fiscal year 2025, debt-servicing costs exceeded Pentagon spending for the first time. In the first 10 months of fiscal year 2026, interest expenses had also surpassed Medicare spending, becoming the second-largest federal budget item after Social Security.
Higher Treasury yields can also affect ordinary Americans because they influence borrowing costs for mortgages, car loans and business financing.
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Trump calls for lower interest rates
The growing debt burden comes as investors have demanded higher returns on longer-term US government bonds.
Long-term Treasury yields recently reached their highest levels in years, reflecting concerns about government borrowing and the supply of debt.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent responded by announcing that the government would double the size of certain long-term Treasury buyback operations, increasing them from $2 billion to at least $4 billion per operation.
Trump has meanwhile continued to call for lower interest rates. Asked whether Americans should be concerned about volatility in the bond market, he said he believed the US economy was strong enough to withstand the pressure and argued that interest rates should decline.
Social programmes remain a major challenge
A large portion of federal spending goes toward mandatory programmes such as Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and veterans’ benefits.
The US government spends roughly $7 trillion annually, with around 60% allocated to these mandatory programmes, according to the report. Their costs are expected to remain under pressure as the large baby-boom generation ages and demand for retirement and healthcare benefits increases.
At the same time, federal tax revenues have not been sufficient to cover overall government spending.
The situation has therefore created a difficult fiscal equation for policymakers: reducing the deficit could require spending cuts, higher taxes, stronger economic growth, or some combination of all three.
Fiscal outlook remains under scrutiny
The Treasury also reported a $432 billion budget deficit for July, the fourth-highest monthly deficit in US history. The deficit for the first 10 months of fiscal year 2026 has already exceeded the full-year deficit recorded in fiscal 2025, with two months still remaining in the fiscal year.
Budget watchdogs have warned that the $40 trillion milestone should not be viewed merely as a symbolic figure. They argue that continued borrowing could increase inflationary pressures, limit the government’s ability to respond to future emergencies and leave taxpayers facing higher costs.
The Congressional Budget Office has also estimated that Trump’s second-term One Big Beautiful Bill Act could add approximately $4.7 trillion to federal debt.
With debt continuing to rise and interest payments consuming an increasing share of federal resources, the challenge for Washington is becoming more urgent: balancing economic priorities and government commitments while preventing the cost of borrowing from becoming an even greater burden on the US economy.
